Of course not. :)

I was talking about credit card tips... although they are SUPPOSED to claim their cash tips too, I've never heard of a server at any restaurant claiming them.

I thought Michigan has a standard server minimum wage and it's 2.65?

Yeah.. I thought she meant that servers make the "real" minimum wage, and if they only get $2.65, then that's like a 1/3 of the minimum wage. I would hope they'd get at least $5 an hour in tips though.

How can I, the consumer, educate myself, though? I mean, really? It doesn't matter what the sanitation score says; you're right, that's just one day, and who knows what they do the other 364? But if I can't walk through the kitchen and check that separate cutting boards are used for meat and greens, make sure there aren't dirty dishrags in the food sinks, and inspect under the employees' fingernails, how else am I supposed to educate myself?I was at a restaurant in Pearl Ridge a couple of months ago and went to the bathroom while my friends and I were waiting to be seated. Another girl and I came out of our stalls at the same time and started to wash our hands in the sinks and then saw a server come out of a stall and walk right out without washing her hands. The other girl and I just stared at each other, and then I said, "I hope she's not my server." I scanned the floor when we got out to our table and didn't see her anywhere, so I guess she went home. Still, if I had seen her waiting tables, I would have grabbed a manager and ratted her out. I'm sure everyone's skipped handwashing once or twice, but when you're serving other people's food, you should at least try to be sanitary.

In the view of our Federal Government, they decided to tax tips at a rate that they could collect and charge.

I am a firm beleiver that a server can make or break a eating place!

Act like a biotch or s o b, no tip and never go back! Oops out of job and business!

When I was 16, I worked at a fast food restaurant as a cashier. I quit because the conditions of the kitchen grossed me out and I couldn't deal with it anymore. Not to paint all fast food places with the same brush, but I hardly ever go to fast food places because of that. I'm sure that not all restaurants (that aren't fast food) are pristine, but like KKC said, how are the consumers supposed to know?

whoever said tip on to go orders is smoking something good....if I walk inside and get it to go why would I tip?? I will give a buck or two for the curbside pickup but thats about it...when dining in, I usually double my tax and add a dollar...that makes it more then 15%...

1. The server still gets taxed on it.

2. You order soup, salad, or a dessert. BESIDES the other tables that a server has, they are most likely working on your order as well... which means boxing things up instead of bringing it out to a table.

3. Do you think you order the food and it just magically appears put together? Someone is still providing a service for you.

You walked inside a restaurant to pick up your food... you're also walking inside to go sit down and eat.

ummm maybe we're talking about different to go orders...I mean I'm home, I call where ever, I drive to get my food, pick it up from the bar, the hostess stand, have them bring it to the car..whatever the drill is for that place...I don't tip like I had the meal there in the resturant...if someone brings it to my car I will give them a couple of bucks...kinda like the pizza guy....why would I tip 15+% for that???

I've been serving for three years now and I've been working in food service for a little longer than that. I've worked at two family-owned Italian restaurants and am now working at a corporate casual dining chain that I have been at for two years.

I get paid $2.13 an hour, but my paychecks are usually $0.00 because of tax. I do claim all of my tips because servers are very likely to get checked by the IRS and I don't want anything to happen to me! However, I have never NOT made at least $5.15 an hour, even on slow days with bad tippers. This is mostly because I'm good at my job and my tip average is usually between 18-22%. At my casual chain restaurant when I'm working to-go orders, I'm also taking tables and they are suffering from limited service while I am also working on to-go... I'm still getting paid $2.13 an hour for this, so tipping on to-go is incredibly important - it can make or break a night for me. And when you're sitting at my table and you don't tip me, I am PAYING out of my own personal money to serve you. And believe me, that is not how I prefer to spend my money. I have to tip out bar and bus depending on my sales - not on my tips. This includes if I have a table that did not order alcoholic drinks and even if I clean the table instead of the busser.

That being said, the job does provide good money for me because I have high sales and I generally make good tips. I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't make money. Still, I have lost most of my faith in the goodness of human beings because some people are so rude and unpleasant... I'm here to make your day better. Sit back, relax, and please be pleasant to me like I am to you. I know many people like to think otherwise, but my life is not some big conspiracy theory to ruin your experience in our restaurant. I had a table that had a bad experience last night (though this particular one wasn't my fault) and I still feel guilty about it the next day. I like this job because I like to make people happy.

I would never hesitate to send food back in a restaurant. I never get angry if somebody sends food back to me if it is not prepared correctly. YOU are paying for your meal and you should be 100% happy with it. That is what restaurants are for! On the other hand, please don't send something back just because you changed your mind after you ordered or want a free meal. This one woman complained yesterday how awful her meal was - after she ate 90% of it!!! She asked for a box to take the rest home... go figure. Somebody overheard her laughing about how she can always get free meals. Classy.

Last thing - I've never seen ANYBODY tamper with food. That is gross and unacceptable. I'm not saying it doesn't ever happen, I'm simply saying that I have never personally seen it at any of the restaurants I have worked at and that it must be incredibly rare. And you can bet that if I saw a coworker walk out of the restaurant without washing their hands, I would freak out. The vast majority of us do care about your health, I promise!

Thank you! I am the same way.
My husband won't send it back. he will eat it and sulk through the whole meal and say "I am not going back there". :rolleyes: IMO, it is not fair because he didn't give them the chance to make it right

And if he sulks and bitches, he has no one to blame but himself. he could have gotten it corrected


that shit peeves me

You can educate yourself by checking up on sanitation scores in newspapers, asking around, and by looking around--just the way you've been doing.

Does anyone remember when Taco Hell employees didn't use gloves to make the tacos? I remember that. I thought that was SO gross.:(

I still don't like eating at Taco Hell. I will if it's the only place open though.:o:(

I did some temp work at a company that repaired restaurant equipment. It was the most eye-opening enlightening lesson on where to eat and where NOT to eat in Des Moines. The repair guys loved to tell stories about the stuff they found (like the time a milkshake machine quit working and they found a mouse body in the mixing shaft! OMG)

If you really want to know what is good and where to avoid ask someone in that line of work!

They still don't.

It depends. If I ordered a ravioli and I was brought fetticini, then that goes straight back. If I ordered no onions and there's onions on it, I'll just pick them off, but even that irks me because what if I'm allergic to whatever I asked you not to put on? If you thought "Oh they can just pick it off, I'm not making that again" and I eat it without knowing you screwed up my order, that could be my life right there. It pisses me off when people make mistakes with my food, but if I don't feel like I can put on my fakest smile and happy voice so I don't find something floating in my soup, then I'll just be quiet about it.

I have several friends with severe, life-threatening food allergies. When we go out to eat together, they are crystal clear with the servers: I will become incredibly ill or DIE if I have this. They do this because they know that if they don't, the server and/or chef will just think "oh, picky eater" and ignore their request. Most restaurants of any quality are paranoid about food allergies and will take extra good care of those who have them (provided basic standards of politeness and courtesy are met). I've encountered several places where the manager personally escorted our meal through the kitchen to make sure that offending ingredients stayed away from them. And we always tip a base of 25% to those servers who are good to our friends.

My point is that you're kind of comparing apples to pomegranates. There's a difference between being picky and having a medical condition. If you have an allergy, and you don't make it crystal clear that you're not just another annoying patron, and you get fed something you can't eat, then it's at least partially your fault.

That's why. And yes we're talking about the same carry out to go orders. THEY ARE STILL PREPARING YOUR ORDER. Just because you didn't sit there and run them around to serve you, they are still doing a service to you.

Maybe it's the places I go to for take-out, but I've never seen a server involved at all. I'm presuming the cook puts the food in the take-out container and the cashier usually goes and gets it when I go to the cash register to pick it up so I'm missing where the server is involved. There is no bar service and no busser involved. Then again, the only take-out I usually get is Chinese or pizza. The place I go to for Chinese has the same old guy (pretty sure it's the owner) at the cash register and they don't have in-restaurant dining at all, so there are no servers. When I used UNOs curbside to go, I did tip, cuz they were bringing it out to my car and I assumed it was a server doing that. If I have pizza delivered, I definitely tip.

Another question.. since you have to "tip out" the bar, what if the patron doesn't get a drink? Does the bar still get a cut of your sales? Or do they just get a cut of the bar sales? Just curious.

Ummm no. We all have occupational hazards. I guess thats one. A "tip" is for service. Me picking up a to go box is not my idea of service. Oh well....

I have to agree with you on that one.

If that's case, then why wouldn't you tip the Wendy's guy? Since he also put in the same amount of work in making sure that you're food got to you as the Applebee's to-go guy.

That doesn't surprise me, but the Taco Hell that I go to...they wear gloves. I wouldn't eat there if they didn't. And what really makes it so bad is they make the tacos after touching money too. That's disgusting.

I know what you mean. That's so annoying when I go through the window and order, and then it's all wrong. I hate mayo, and Wendy's is good for getting my order wrong by adding gobs of mayo on my hamburger. I don't eat fast food often but out of all the fast food places, Wendy's is the best at screwing up an order.

For me, it's McDonalds. I rarely eat there because I always wind up with yellow mustard on my burger.

To go places like that, no I don't think it's necessary to tip. But let's say Zorba's for instance... even if I pick up my order at the window I still tip. If you were picking up carry out for my restaurant (I think you know which one) or Red Robin or wherever, it is still a server- or at least manager- who is putting the order together. (ie: preparing salads, pouring soup, preparing desserts, bagging up food)

And yes even if the table doesn't get drinks from the bar, most restaurants still go by total sales, not just drink sales. The pros and cons of working in a non-corporate restaurant are that you don't have to tip a certain percentage. So if you don't use the bartender alot or you didn't have a lot of tables for the busser, you control how much you give.

Occupational hazards? Like I said before, that to go box didn't just magically put itself together and carry itself out to you.

And whoever asked if you tip the Wendy's guy... is he making $2something an hour?

I didn't know, but I do now! I LOVE that restaurant!!!!

I honestly feel the same. "Service" to me, is when the server pays attention to me, makes sure the food is cooked right and tastes good by asking if it's all OK, brings drinks and refills them, makes suggestions if I'm torn and can't decide, etc.

I also tip delivery guys/gals when I order in, because to me, the delivery person is doing me a favor by bringing it to me so I don't have to go out and get it myself.

Me getting in my car, picking up a box, and going back home is not really service IMHO.... but I guess we all have different opinions on this one.

Ok, i'm not a big mustard person, but isn't mustard yellow?

lol lol lol :p

Exactly. I like Brown Mustard, but can't stand the taste of yellow mustard (a la French's)

And I'm the opposite. :) Brown mustard is too strong or something. I looooove yellow mustard.

I would have to disagree. I used to work at a restaurant as a server while I was in undergrad, and sometimes I would get placed at the counter/bar. I hated it. Infact, everyone hated the counter, because not only did we have to serve the customers at the counter, but we would have to answer the carry out phone, and prepare the carryout orders too. The customers that would come in to pick up their orders very rarely tipped. That's one reason why we hated to get placed on the counter. The other reason why is because the counter girl couldn't get a table of 5, 10 or sometimes 15. It would be the same regulars at the counter and they would order the same things (the usual), all at the same time asking to refill their coffee cups. Coffee refills were free. What even made it worse is the counter girl had to talk to these customers more often than she would at a table. I hated that. I thought I did the most work as a counter girl than I did if I was assigned to my section of tables. So, I think it's wrong not to tip for carry out. I remember it was to a point where we all hated working the counter so much, that we would argue about whos turn it was to be the counter girl. Sometimes the managers made mistakes and would skip over someone. Unless they were just playing favorites, which didn't surprise me.

Do what ya want, but you really should start tipping for carry out, because it is a service, and a very hard one.

Working for tips sucks. Thank God I never did that.

*cue T-Pain and Kanye West*

Is the tip life better than the life I live
When I thought that I was gonna go crazzzyyyy.....

once again its par for the course/occupational hazard when you get a job that is dependent on tips...my job for instance...I work from home and my time is not monitored at all...people think its great and gravy, which most of the time it is...BUT...unless I'm on vacation, I need to be available 24/7...if at a movie, on a date, in church, whenever..3am Saturday morning or 10pm Tuesday night...it doesn't matter...I knew this when I accepted the position...so when I had to leave one of my best friend's wedding early a couple of months ago...ummm ok...such is life...I signed up, I didn't get drafted....

if I sit at a bar and wait for my to go order, I tip the bartender on what he SERVED me...

but to each his own...I would never serve 1 because I don't have the temperment for it and 2 because I like to know exactly how much money I'm making...

And maybe if people weren't such cheap asses and understood how to show monetary appreciation to someone who is providing them a service, then serving wouldn't be such a shitty job.

You are so right. Tipping carry-out SHOULD be as expected as tipping a server. Having done it for quite some time, you make no money, put up with a LOT of shit, and oftentimes go waaaaay out of your way to make everyone happy. And having to tip out the bartender on sales that I did where I made NO tip makes it 10x worse, because I have to PAY to serve you. It costs me money. If you're not going to tip, make it yourself at home, because I don't feel like spending the little money that I earn on you because you're too cheap to tip.

Actually, on many sanitation tests, it is even more gross when they do wear gloves, because they don't change them regularly, so their hands are dirtier than they would be if they just didn't wash their hands...

lol :p

Aw sister!

I've never waitressed. So I honestly wouldn't think to tip someone who brought me the bag either because all I see is that they brought the bag and I assume the chef did the work and I can't directly tip him. I don't make much either, me eating out is a treat and I wouldn't "give" money away if I really honestly don't think/know that the person did anything. I work in retail (jewelry) and I do a lot of work to make a sale (up to 30 min. and sometimes the people will buy nothing and no commission either). I work for my hourly wage (granted it's not $2.00), but it's not much at all. I can't afford to make any less and wouldn't work a job so dependent on other people. I just think that is the point she is trying to make.

I'm not trying to justify whether or not anyone should tip, but I really do see both sides of the argument. People really might not understand a lot of what goes into waiting. But at the same time, if someone doesn't feel like the service the received merited it (cos they don't really see the other side) then they feel like they are basically giving money away and they already paid for the food. (Ex. sometimes when we do an ear piercing the people are nice and offer us a tip, but the majority do not because they are already paying for the earring and know we are being paid by the company and whatever the wage happens to be is not their concern; although obviously a restaurant in most cases is different because tipping is the norm there). I guess it's because most times you just pay for what you buy (ex. in a store you buy a shirt or milk but you don't tip the stock people cos they put it there, etc.)

P.S. -just reiterating that I see both sides and I'm not endorsing tipping or not tipping so nobody be mad and have a t*tty attack like GCers are so prone to doing.

Yeah, while there is some truth in that, it's still worse without gloves. As long as they're only touching the food and not handling money, or touching the counter or each other, then golves are ok.

Think about it. When someone uses the bathroom they should wash their hands for at least 5-7 minutes. At least I think that's what the standard is supposed to be. Usually people don't wash no more than 5 seconds. There is so much bacteria still on their hands. Some, don't wash their hands at all.

I know this is/sounds gross, but sometimes I wonder how many times we put other peoples feces in our mouths, all because they don't wash their hands good or at all, or when we touch things and don't wash our hands before we eat. lol that makes me SO not wanna eat anymore.:(:p

Yeah, tell me about it. This should be a thread.:rolleyes:

I've never worked in the restaurant business and I guess I am learning some things by reading this thread...I very rarely order out from restaurants (other than pizza), but when I do I don't tip the hostess/counterperson that hands me the food. It's just that these days, EVERYONE is looking to get a tip. There are tip cups on every counter from the coffee shops and ice cream places, to the fast food counters and everyday stores. It's ridiculous! I'm sorry but unless you are providing me with a personal service (ie - serving my food, cutting my hair, delivering something to my home, or parking my car), I don't think you deserve my money.